An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier will pass Earth closer than the moon next week. Good thing we elected Morgan Freeman

I voted for Danny Glover.

/although, he's too old for this shait

You know, whenever I read articles like this, and look at the telescopes we use, I'm always amazed that we're able to gain this information. It's just astounding. Go science!

"YU55 poses no threat of an Earth collision over, at the very least, the next 100 years," said Don Yeomans

So... now might be a good time to start planning for (or deflecting) a 400m impact event?

Thats no Morgan Freeman.

This had too many goddamn exclamation marks in it. Also anyone who thinks that an asteroid of this size is going to fark with the tides and cause earthquakes needs to have a rubber band secured around their junk until it falls off.

Meh, it's not the small ones you need to worry about. It's the ones the size of Texas that like to go on a sight seeing trip of the inner solar system and drive worse than Mr. Magoo you've got to worry about.

This one'd just flatten a city.

Please let it hit the middle east
Please let it hit china
Please let it hit europe
Please let a tiny piece break off and hit Bernie Madoff

Cagey B: This had too many goddamn exclamation marks in it. Also anyone who thinks that an asteroid of this size is going to fark with the tides and cause earthquakes needs to have a rubber band secured around their junk until it falls off.

What kind of damage would an impact cause?

I don't think we'd need to worry about tides then.

namatad: what about the Thread fall?

In the 5+ years I've been farking, I don't recall coming across a Pern reference before this month. And yours makes the third.

Oh yes, which class of aircraft carrier?

Diogenes: [jovemnerd.ig.com.br image 440x657]

This is good news...for Thundarr.

Came here for a Thundarr reference (although it was a runaway planet). Is..is that a real poster...

Mayhem of the Black Underclass: Cagey B: This had too many goddamn exclamation marks in it. Also anyone who thinks that an asteroid of this size is going to fark with the tides and cause earthquakes needs to have a rubber band secured around their junk until it falls off.

What kind of damage would an impact cause?

I don't think we'd need to worry about tides then.

Depends on how big their junk is and how high up they are when it falls off..

Oh wait, you were talking about the asteroid.

People say "closer than the Moon" as if that were a big deal. I suspect it's because almost typical depictions of the Earth and Moon dramatically reduce the distance, because otherwise the picture would be mostly empty space.

How empty, you ask? Imagine the Earth were the size of a basketball. Then the moon would be a tennis ball... 24 feet away.

If you've never seen it done before, it's well worth setting this up and staring at it for a while just to get a sense of the scale. There really is an astonishing amount of empty space for things to pass between us and the Moon.

/If you can do this and not be even more impressed by the Apollo astronauts, you may well be dead.

I'm confident our Japanese allies can handle this...

Ow! That was my feelings!: I'm confident our Japanese allies can handle this...

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Whoa! Flashback!

czetie: People say "closer than the Moon" as if that were a big deal. I suspect it's because almost typical depictions of the Earth and Moon dramatically reduce the distance, because otherwise the picture would be mostly empty space.

How empty, you ask? Imagine the Earth were the size of a basketball. Then the moon would be a tennis ball... 24 feet away.

If you've never seen it done before, it's well worth setting this up and staring at it for a while just to get a sense of the scale. There really is an astonishing amount of empty space for things to pass between us and the Moon.

/If you can do this and not be even more impressed by the Apollo astronauts, you may well be dead.

Maybe they use they use that idea because it gives people a point of reference?

czetie: People say "closer than the Moon" as if that were a big deal. I suspect it's because almost typical depictions of the Earth and Moon dramatically reduce the distance, because otherwise the picture would be mostly empty space.

How empty, you ask? Imagine the Earth were the size of a basketball. Then the moon would be a tennis ball... 24 feet away.

If you've never seen it done before, it's well worth setting this up and staring at it for a while just to get a sense of the scale. There really is an astonishing amount of empty space for things to pass between us and the Moon.

/If you can do this and not be even more impressed by the Apollo astronauts, you may well be dead.

I didn't believe you but I checked it out, researched the diameters and distances and you're right. Wow. That's just amazing. I've been blown away by planet dimensions before: like this giant globe way over there is the sun, this baseball sized thing is the earth, and pluto is a corn kernel in a farmer's field four towns over. But i never visualized the moon/earth disparity.

Odd Bird: namatad: what about the Thread fall?

In the 5+ years I've been farking, I don't recall coming across a Pern reference before this month. And yours makes the third.

Oh yes, which class of aircraft carrier?

[www.bobhenneman.info image 620x497]

I'd assume they mean Nimitz, the type most Americans are familiar with.

Oh, and TFA says it's about 1300 feet, which is even bigger than a Nimitz.

Somehow, an 1100-foot long ship is equivalent to a 1300-foot diameter sphere? The volume is only what, two orders of magnitude off?

Math is hard.

Ow! That was my feelings!: I'm confident our Japanese allies can handle this...

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What is that from?

INeedAName: Maybe they use they use ["closer than the moon"] because it gives people a point of reference?

Maybe, but I contend it's giving people a misleading point of reference, since most people don't have a good sense for how far away the moon is. I suspect that most people reading that description are thinking of a narrow miss. The reality is that you could squeeze 25 Earths between us and this asteroid.

Smeggy Smurf: Ow! That was my feelings!: I'm confident our Japanese allies can handle this...

[3.bp.blogspot.com image 640x480]

What is that from?

Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato an 80s Japanese anime series. I had totally forgotten about it and then found out they just made a life action movie(haven't seen)

starblazers (new window)

liveaction (new window)

Ow! That was my feelings!: Smeggy Smurf: Ow! That was my feelings!: I'm confident our Japanese allies can handle this...

[3.bp.blogspot.com image 640x480]

What is that from?

Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato an 80s Japanese anime series. I had totally forgotten about it and then found out they just made a life action movie(haven't seen)

starblazers (new window)

liveaction (new window)

actually, the French trailer is WAY better..
Link (new window)

'But...but, I was going to Tosche station to pick up some power converters.'

oh wait...

sarah_t_s: Meh, it's not the small ones you need to worry about. It's the ones the size of Texas that like to go on a sight seeing trip of the inner solar system and drive worse than Mr. Magoo you've got to worry about.

This one'd just flatten a city.

You'd get pretty severe earthquakes up to a thousand miles away, and two mile wide crater, so it would still do some serious damage.

Not an ELE, though.

Calculator here to determine just how much damage these things do.

Impact Effects Calculator (new window)

Mayhem of the Black Underclass: Cagey B: This had too many goddamn exclamation marks in it. Also anyone who thinks that an asteroid of this size is going to fark with the tides and cause earthquakes needs to have a rubber band secured around their junk until it falls off.

What kind of damage would an impact cause?

I don't think we'd need to worry about tides then.

does it resemble a very large sundae?

NobleHam: I'd assume they mean Nimitz, the type most Americans are familiar with.Oh, and TFA says it's about 1300 feet, which is even bigger than a Nimitz.

that and The Nimitz has been known to be lost in time and space before.

Could it be?

Knowing my luck, it would be

Ow! That was my feelings!: I'm confident our Japanese allies can handle this...

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Not good. WWII Japanese ships have a marked weakness to things aircraft carrier sized.

janeuner: Somehow, an 1100-foot long ship is equivalent to a 1300-foot diameter sphere? The volume is only what, two orders of magnitude off?

Math is hard.

And think about the mass difference for a second. That aircraft carrier will always be about 90-95% void by volume. I'd assume an asteroid to be less than 10% voids.

bgddy24601: [www.lolroflmao.com image 450x600]



Make it so.

Mayhem of the Black Underclass: Cagey B: This had too many goddamn exclamation marks in it. Also anyone who thinks that an asteroid of this size is going to fark with the tides and cause earthquakes needs to have a rubber band secured around their junk until it falls off.

What kind of damage would an impact cause?

I don't think we'd need to worry about tides then.

Unless our calculations are wrong and it happens to hit one of our oceans. Then you need to worry about tides.

Franco: Mayhem of the Black Underclass: Cagey B: This had too many goddamn exclamation marks in it. Also anyone who thinks that an asteroid of this size is going to fark with the tides and cause earthquakes needs to have a rubber band secured around their junk until it falls off.

What kind of damage would an impact cause?

I don't think we'd need to worry about tides then.

Unless our calculations are wrong and it happens to hit one of our oceans. Then you need to worry about tides.

It wouldn't be a tide then, it would be a wave. SRRY

Mayhem of the Black Underclass: Franco: Mayhem of the Black Underclass: Cagey B: This had too many goddamn exclamation marks in it. Also anyone who thinks that an asteroid of this size is going to fark with the tides and cause earthquakes needs to have a rubber band secured around their junk until it falls off.

What kind of damage would an impact cause?

I don't think we'd need to worry about tides then.

Unless our calculations are wrong and it happens to hit one of our oceans. Then you need to worry about tides.

It wouldn't be a tide then, it would be a wave. SRRY

A 35ft tsunami, in fact, if it hit in 1000m of water and you were a thousand miles away.

Impact effects calculator. (new window)

getting worried

/hot